A Virtual Life

I’m not much of a video game person. I wasn’t raised in a house that had video games, and to this day, I prefer books.

But I recently read Ready Player One and saw the movie, and it got me thinking: if I were to create an avatar to spend more time living as than I do in my own human skin, what would I want to look like?

The closest I’ve ever come to creating an avatar was building my own Dungeons and Dragons character. And I did create a totally non-human to play as. I wanted to be part demon so I could be all fancy and have magical powers to zap people with my hell tail.

But what if it wasn’t about having powers? What if choosing the skin of your avatar was only about how you wanted people to see you?

It’s such a mind-boggling concept. Do you try and create an image that shows the truest version of you, or do you hide behind a persona that no one would ever link to your real world self?

It’s such a deeply personal choice, and I’m not even wholly sure how I would answer.

It might be easier to play the part of a big, strong alpha male. To roam the virtual world in a form where people are least likely to question your competence and abilities. But would that be betraying womankind?

Would it be better to be a busty female who proves everyone wrong? Or would going the Brianne of Tarth route be better? Wear armor and have gender be a coincidence rather than a distinguishing feature?

Or, if that’s too complicated, become a magical giant newt with a poison tongue where no one could know what gender you are.

I really don’t know what I would do.

How about you? Any ideas for the perfect avatar?

Head on over to Twitter to vote on this week’s poll: What genre are you most likely to read at the beach?

Looking for great sci-fi reads to go with our great avatar quandary? Check out these awesome Instafreebies!